How long does wine keep once opened?

After reading an article about boxed wine that was linked in a previous post, a reader wrote:

The article said, “Once open, a box preserves wine for about four weeks compared with only a day or two for a bottle.” Is a bottle of wine no good after a day or two ? I don’t know much about wine, but I never heard this before.

I generally find reds to be equally good the day after opening as long as I’ve tightly recorked them. (Corks from port bottles, with plastic tops affixed to the cork, work well for this.) On the second day it’s still OK but noticeably diminished. On the third — oh, who am I kidding? Reds never last to the third day. Whites seem fine in the fridge for a day or two longer.

How about it, folks: What are your experiences with keeping wine after it’s been opened? Restaurants that use vacuum systems — either electric pumps or the hand-operated kind — tell me wine stored that way easily keeps a week.

Steve Barnes

7 Responses

While I agree that Whites keep better under refrigeration, there are some Reds that hold up much better than others. The tannins, body and other nuances dictate wine’s longevity, particularly with Reds. We very rarely have any Reds that are open more than two days, 3 days max depending on the wine, despite our valiant hand pumping air removal techniques.
At that juncture, they make an amazing, albeit costly, accompaniment to our Hanger Steak in a Red Wine Mushroom Demi. Enjoy!!!

I agree Kevin, it depends on the body/composition of the wine. Full body cabs and Bordeaux’s have higher tannin levels and can easily keep for a few days as long as the wine is not exposed to air too long(i.e. corking and uncorking several times). Something lighter like pinot noirs and burgundy style wines will not last more then 2-3 days.

Some wines (using the loose interpretation of the term) will keep forever, like Twinkies, because of the preservatives they now put in the box with them. General rule is, for a standard size bottle, if it cost you more than fifteen bucks, drink it soon after opening, or you run the risk of having very expensive partial bottle of vinegar.

In my experience, white wines go down hill faster. I also refrigerate reds that aren’t finished immediately at the first sitting. It slows down the oxidation and won’t cause any harm. I’d agree with Chef that 3 days is probably max; anyone who says they get a week with a vacuum gizmo is, I think, kidding themselves. The wine may be drinkable, but it will seldom be good.

I find that sauvignon blancs keep very well in the fridge for about 3-4 days after opening. I use it for cooking then if there’s still any left!

Reds – like other table hoppers, I find the better body it has, the longer it will last, but generally will not keep no more than 3 days after opening (no matter what you use to plug it up). After that it gets tossed into whatever I’m cooking.